Comic Talk, Tips and Tricks

1. What kind of pen do I use to ink in my pictures?2. When I scan my comic how do I resize it3. If I can resize my comic what should I resize it to?4. How should I color the comic?(computer or drawing)5. If on the computer, with what program?6. If drawing it, with what kind of colors?

I could do a really good comic if I could get some help with this if someone could be generous enough to help out that would be great.

1. Okay, you can ink with: A brush and ink, a nib pen, a sharpie/fineliner if you're after traditional methods of inking OR some webcomic artists ink their comic digitally with the computer.2. Ummm, oh boy, you really are a newbie to all this, aren't you? …okay, let's stick questions 2,3,5 together… You'll be needing to get yourself a decent piece of software. If you have the money, Adobe Photoshop is a favourite among artists, along with Corel draw and Opencanvas. Google these and you can find trial versions. If you DON'T have money, I recommend G.I.M.P, which is a free image package that does most of what the others do. Google it and you'll find a free download.Once you have an image scanned into one of these programs, you'll find they generally have an option like ‘image size’, ‘resize image’ etc. The smallest desktop resolution you'll generally come across is 600x800, so try to keep your comic under 800 pixels wide, especially if it's drawn portrait. I find that comics between 600 and 750 have a nice balance of fitting on the screen and being readable.

4/5. There is no set ‘you must colour your comic this way!’ commandment. Many comic artists on the web colour using a computer. With practice, you can get skillful at this. There are plenty of tutorials out there on the web on this subject.Personally, I use some computer colour but mostly markers. Copic Markers are high quality but expensive, and give softer, more natural tones. Prisma markers are cheaper and have less subtle, bolder colours. BUT this doesn't mean I think markers are the best! I just like to use them personally! When I was new to webcomicing, I tended to either: Not colour and just leave things in black and white or pencil shade, OR use pencil crayons.There's no reason you can't use whatever you like to make a webcomic. If you can scan it, it's viable.

This is a tricky question because it depends on how you want to work.I have experience with these:.- art pens_metal round point (it looks like a nail and its a bit big.. its mostly for outlines).- art pens_thin small cooper pen (this is the common inking pen used by comic artists and its ideal for fine detail).- rapidographs (these are mostly used in technical illustrations, but can be used for comics as well… these come in numbered sizes).- brush (from these I used to use a number 2 reound camel hair brush which was quite nice.. but require lots of practice).-marker small tip pens (really dont recomend you to use these.. i used them for story boards since time is of escence in advertising.. but really.. i dont recomend them)

.- Digital inking (its the best ive used, yet its time consuming at first. I tryed different software: Illustrator(not free), Expressions 3 (free), and manga Studio (not free). All are preatty good, but manga studio is the best because its really quick to setup and work with.If you are really interested in digital inking id suggest Manga Studio… if you dont have money to spend, then use Expressions 3.

Someone2. When I scan my comic how do I resize it

You better scan it at 600 dpi from the original size. It will take some time for the scanner to do it though. Id recomend a scsi scanner (those are really quick)If you scan only for web, id suggest no less than 300 dpi, work your coloring and then resize to a smaller image.If you have a small image and then resize it, youll be smoothing the lines and will be hard to work with.. and not to mention the quality will not be good.

Someone3. If I can resize my comic what should I resize it to?

forgot to ask you before.. do you want to resize UP or DOWN?

Someone4. How should I color the comic?(computer or drawing)

Best quality, faster results, less mess… go Digital. If you do it traditionally youll spend more time retouching and fixing in the computer anyway. So why not start digital from the begining? ^^

Someone5. If on the computer, with what program?

Depends on your budget. If you have a Wacom, it should have come with free versions of painter and Photoshop. (that is if you cant purchase the pro versions of those apps.There is Open Canvas 1.1 wich is free and works somewhat like painter. and ive heard The Gimp works like Photoshop (and its free) If you tryed Expressions 3, you can try that as well.

But.. nothing beats Painter and photoshop :). Allthough experienced artists do amazing things even on the worst applications. These application will ease on your workflow, but they dont help with the quality of your work. (keep that in mind)